6.  The applicants were born in 1946, 1953, 1966 and 1972 respectively. They are currently detained in Mostar Prison in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
7.  On different dates the applicants were convicted of war crimes perpetrated against Bosniac (at the time, Bosnian Muslim) civilians during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were committed to Zenica Prison on 16 August 2004 (Mr Rodić), on 4 February 2005 (Mr Pušara), on 10 May 2005 (Mr Knežević) and on 12 October 2004 (Mr Baković). Zenica Prison is the only maximum-security prison in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (a constituent Entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Its population is mostly made up of Bosniacs (approximately 90 per cent).
8.  On 7 March 2005 Mr Pušara asked to be transferred to Foča Prison, in the Republika Srpska (the other constituent Entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), in order to be closer to his family. On 28 March 2005 the Ministry of Justice of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Federation Ministry”) informed him that a prison transfer between the two Entities was not allowed.
9.  On 2 May 2005 at 6 p.m. offensive graffiti referring to Mr Rodić and Mr Baković were discovered in the prison canteen. Those responsible for the graffiti were never identified.
10.  On 19 May 2005 the Federation Ministry informed Mr Knežević also that a prison transfer between the two Entities was not allowed.
11.  On 4 June 2005 at 9 p.m., following the screening of a video which showed a 1995 killing of Bosniacs from Srebrenica, another prisoner, N.F., lured Mr Pušara into his cell and punched him in the eye with a clenched fist. On 7 June 2005 Mr Pušara was treated in a civil hospital in Zenica. According to an official report, the attack was ethnically motivated, the attacker had a piece of glass in his hand and the consequences could have been more serious had it not been for the intervention of another prisoner.
12.  On 5 June 2005 at 4 p.m. another prisoner, J.H., attacked Mr Baković in the prison canteen. The prison guards intervened after Mr Baković had received several blows to the head. He was treated in a civil hospital in Zenica on the same day.
13.  On 8 June 2005 the applicants declared a hunger strike in order to attract public attention to their situation. They were immediately placed in the Zenica Prison hospital unit.
14.  On the same day, the Disciplinary Board of Zenica Prison sentenced N.F. and J.H. to twenty days’ solitary confinement in connection with the incidents of 4 and 5 June 2005.
15.  On 10 June 2005 the Federation Ministry set up an ad hoc commission of independent experts (“the ad hoc commission”) with a view to investigating the incidents of 4 and 5 June 2005.
16.  On 15 June 2005 the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the State Ministry”) ordered the applicants’ transfer to Istočno Sarajevo Prison, in the Republika Srpska, for security reasons.
17.  On 19 June 2005 the ad hoc commission issued its final report. It referred to prison records showing that the prison management had been aware of the need to protect the applicants from the time of their arrival in Zenica Prison. The prison management confirmed to the ad hoc commission that special measures had indeed been considered, but that it had been unable to introduce any such measures because of the lack of prison staff, the lack of space (80 prisoners more than the prison’s official capacity), the lack of another maximum-security prison in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the fact that prison transfers between the Entities were not envisaged. Seven other prisoners detained in Zenica Prison (six Bosniacs and one Serb), who had also been convicted of war crimes, testified before the ad hoc commission, claiming that the applicants had good reasons to fear for their lives. The witness of Serb origin, D.S., maintained that he had also been and still was subjected to persecution by his fellow prisoners because of the nature of his offence. The report criticised the prison authorities for their failure to duly protect the applicants.
18.  On 21 June 2005 the Federation Ministry ordered that the applicants remain in Zenica Prison, in its hospital unit, until further notice.
19.  On 23 June 2005 Zenica Prison entrusted a four-member team (which included three medical doctors) with the monitoring of the applicants’ state of health (because of their hunger strike).
20.  On 1 July 2005 the applicants discontinued their hunger strike in compliance with the interim measures indicated by the Court (see paragraph 4 above).
21.  On 18 July 2005 a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina visited Zenica Prison and interviewed the prison management and the applicants. The prison management maintained that the separation of prisoners according to the nature of their offences was not feasible. The applicants, for their part, accused the prison staff of being uncaring. Two reports based on the above interviews were submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina: on 27 July 2005 and on 16 September 2005. The first report required, without going into any details, that the applicants’ human rights be secured. The second report required, among other things, that equality of conditions between the applicants and other prisoners be secured or, if this was impossible, that the applicants be transferred to another prison.
22.  On 18 July 2005 the Disciplinary Board of Zenica Prison found M.H. guilty of an offence against prison discipline (incitement to the attacks on the applicants of 4 and 5 June 2005) and sentenced him to fifteen days’ solitary confinement. Furthermore, the prison management filed criminal charges against M.H.
23.  On 12 August 2005 the applicants complained to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Constitutional Court”) about the failure to enforce the decision of 15 June 2005 ordering their transfer to another prison (under Article 6 of the Convention) and about the conditions of their detention in Zenica Prison (under Article 3 of the Convention). They also applied for interim measures (pursuant to Rule 77 of the Constitutional Court’s Rules).
24.  On 24 November 2005 Mr Baković was transferred to another prison in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely Mostar Prison.
25.  On 28 November 2005 the three applicants who had remained in Zenica Prison declared a new hunger strike protesting against the conditions of their detention in the hospital unit. On 30 November 2005 a team appointed by the prison management met with them. It would appear that the applicants acknowledged that some outstanding problems had meanwhile been resolved. However, they did not discontinue their hunger strike until 9 December 2005.
26.  On 14 December 2005 Mr Rodić was transferred to Mostar Prison.
27.  On 20 December 2005 the Constitutional Court decided not to apply interim measures in the present case.
28.  On 20 September 2006 the Constitutional Court decided that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to examine the complaint about non‑enforcement of the decision of the State Ministry of 15 June 2005, as the impugned decision concerned neither the applicants’ “civil rights” nor a “criminal charge” against them. As to the complaint about the conditions of the applicants’ detention, the Constitutional Court deemed that the applicants should have petitioned prison inspectors before addressing the Constitutional Court, and dismissed the complaint on non‑exhaustion grounds.
29.  On 19 October 2006 the remaining two applicants were also transferred to Mostar Prison.